Hot-melt molding apparatuses such as extrusion molding machines and injection molding machines are used to mold thermoplastic material(s) such as plastic into desired shapes through hot melting. The hot-melt molding apparatus requires a lot of power in processes for manufacturing molded articles. Thus, particularly in a process where the apparatus itself needs to be increased in temperature, power consumption should be kept to a minimum.
To minimize power consumption of such apparatuses, attempts have been made to improve the production efficiency by increasing the manufacturing speed, setting the preset temperature to which the temperature of the apparatus is to be increased to a lower limit value, and the like.
Recently, reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from production facilities or factories is considered as one measure to address global environmental issues. Thus, there is a demand to improve the efficiency of energy used in production facilities or factories.
However, when thermoplastic material is molded using existing hot-melt molding apparatuses, heat energy dissipating from the hot-melt molding apparatus is not recycled in a process where the hot-melt molding apparatus is heated to a predetermined set temperature by a heater or the like and maintained at the temperature, for example.